In those eight games, the rookies combined for eight touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 71.2 rating. They were sacked 16 times.

Solid supporting cast

But there's a difference. Other than Sanchez, the quarterbacks didn't play for winning teams. And none had the No. 1 defense in the NFL. Not to mention the Texans having the third-ranked running game, despite the inept performance at Jacksonville, where the Texans rushed for 88 yards and a 2.8-yard average per carry against a defense missing five starters.

Many Texans fans are predicting gloom and doom over the last five games, which include three opponents with winning records - Atlanta (7-4), Cincinnati (7-4) and Tennessee (6-5).

What the Texans need from Yates, their fifth-round pick from North Carolina, is a performance similar to what rookie quarterback Pat Haden gave the Los Angeles Rams in 1976.

Before the 1975 draft, Haden elected to play one season in the World Football League because he had accepted a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford. Even though he was the Rose Bowl MVP and led Southern California to multiple national championships, his draft stock slipped because he wasn't going to play in 1975. The Rams took him in the seventh round.

Haden, now the athletic director at USC, was third on the Rams' depth chart as a rookie. But starter James Harris and backup Ron Jaworski suffered season-ending injuries.

Haden came off the bench and led the Rams to a 5-1-1 record and a playoff appearance. He helped them beat Dallas, but they lost to Minnesota in the NFC Championship Game.

Can Yates do for the Texans what Haden did for the Rams? Time will tell.

Rookie has team's faith

While so many fans are predicting the team's demise over the last five games, the coaches and players are doing just the opposite - on and off the record. Privately, they say if a rookie had to be force-fed into the lineup, they're glad it's Yates.

Here's what they say about Yates and why they believe in him.

Yates, 24, is 6-4, 220. He's got a strong arm and decent mobility. He started four seasons at North Carolina. Last year, with seven teammates suspended for the season, he led the Tar Heels to a bowl victory over Tennessee.

After Yates was drafted, he moved to Houston and began working out at Rice with Matt Schaub and his new teammates. He was there every day, trying to soak up the offense from Schaub. At the time, Schaub and the players talked about how impressed they were with Yates.

During preseason, coach Gary Kubiak mentioned several times what a quick study Yates was when it came to learning the system. Schaub said this week Yates picked up the offense faster than any quarterback he's seen.

The coaches and players say Yates is confident, intelligent, tough, patient, coachable, calm under pressure, and the kind of player who likely will make smart decisions. They say he works hard on and off the field.

In the second half of the Jacksonville game, when Kubiak was ultraconservative to protect Yates and the lead, he told the quarterback to throw the ball into the St. John's River if no receiver was wide open. So he did.

Yates was 8-of-15 for 70 yards. Most important? He didn't commit a turnover.

No one knows for sure how Yates is going to play. The Falcons, winners of five of six and one game behind New Orleans in the NFC South, are the toughest Texans opponent since Baltimore.

One thing is for sure: Fans will have a good idea how the Texans are going to play the rest of the way after they see them against Atlanta.